The EMIS Network. EMIS-2017 – The European Men-Who-Have-Sex-With-Men Internet Survey. Maps from the EMIS-2017 Report.
Authors: Peter Weatherburn, Ford Hickson, David S. Reid, Susanne B. Schink, Ulrich Marcus, Axel J. Schmidt
Tag: All gay & bisexual men
Journal of Sex Research, 2018; 55(4-5):617-629 (doi:10.1080/00224499.2017.1380158).
Authors: Ha Tran, Michael W. Ross, Pamela M. Diamond, Rigmor C. Berg, Peter Weatherburn & Axel J. Schmidt
Abstract
Internalized homonegativity (IH) is the internalization of negative attitudes and assumptions about homosexual people by homosexual people themselves. To measure IH, Smolenski, Diamond, Ross, and Rosser (2010) and Ross, Rosser, and Smolenski (2010) revised the Reactions to Homosexuality Scale (RHS) to develop the Short Internalized Homonegativity Scale (SIHS) with eight items. Using the European Men Who Have Sex With Men Internet Survey (EMIS) data, with an analytic sample of 130,718 gay and bisexual men in 38 European countries, we confirmed the validity of the SIHS scale in both training and validation data, in strata of Ross, Berg, et al.’s (2013) three “homosexual discrimination” country clusters, of age, and of education level. However, the performance was less adequate in comparison of gay versus bisexually identified individuals. The latent SIHS structure contains only minor variations across these three strata. The seven-item scale performed as well as the eight-item scale. The SIHS is a promising candidate for standard IH measures, which is invariant across cultural, age, and educational strata.
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 2017 Dec 1; 76(4):356-366 (doi:10.1097/QAI.0000000000001519).
Authors: John E. Pachankis, Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, Rigmor C. Berg, Percy Fernández-Dávila, Massimo Mirandola, Ulrich Marcus, Peter Weatherburn, Axel J. Schmidt
Abstract
Objective: Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) might be particularly likely to migrate to experience freedoms unavailable in their home countries. Structural stigma (eg, laws and policies promoting the unequal treatment of oppressed populations) in MSM migrants’ sending and receiving countries represent potential barriers to HIV prevention among this intersectional population. This study represents the first investigation of structural determinants of HIV risk in a large, geographically diverse sample of MSM migrants.
Design: The 2010 European MSM Internet Survey (n = 23,371 migrants) was administered across 38 European countries.
Methods: Structural stigma was assessed using (1) national laws and policies promoting unequal treatment of sexual minorities across 181 countries worldwide and (2) national attitudes against immigrants in the 38 receiving countries. We also assessed linguistic status, time since migrating, and 5 HIV-prevention outcomes.
Results: Structural stigma toward sexual minorities (in sending and receiving countries) and toward immigrants (in receiving countries) was associated with a lack of HIV-prevention knowledge, service coverage, and precautionary behaviors among MSM migrants. Linguistic status and time since migrating moderated some associations between structural stigma and lack of HIV prevention.
Conclusions: Structural stigma toward MSM and immigrants represents a modifiable structural determinant of the global HIV epidemic.
HIV and Viral Hepatitis (Conference), Malta 2017 – PS2/04; (doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.26988.77441)
Authors: Axel J. Schmidt, Dirk Sander, Teymur Noori
Abstract
Background
In Europe, HIV/STIs are concentrated in certain vulnerable groups, above all, men who have sex with men (MSM). For this reason, targeted HIV testing interventions are paramount. In 2002, a community-based HIV testing service using rapid HIV-tests was established in Amsterdam and given the name “Checkpoint”. Since then, the concept of community-based centres (CBCs) for HIV-testing and other sexual health services has spread throughout Europe, and many such centres have been established using the name “Checkpoint” (CP). Over the years, many centres have offered more comprehensive services regarding gay health, including testing for other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), counselling on drugs use, vaccination, and even provision of HIV treatment. The aim of this study to map community-based (and other) sexual health centres targeting gay and other MSM in Europe.
Methods
In preparation of the second round of the European MSM Internet Survey (EMIS-2017), the EMIS-Network, consisting of more than 80 academic, governmental, and non-governmental organisations, was contacted by e-mail (08/2015) to identify “Checkpoints” and other sexual health centres for gay men throughout Europe. 56 centres were identified and 54 responded. Representatives for the centres were asked for the exact address of the centre, the year it opened (as an HIV-testing / gay health centre) and the current opening hours per week.
Results
Community-based centres (CBCs, N=44) were distinguished from traditional clinics/private practices (“clinics”, N=10), although such binary classification is not always clear-cut. The label “community-based”, in this context, involves ownership and/or decision power by a collective of gay men. The proportion of gay men among employees was 67% in CBCs and 41% in clinics. CP Riga and Odense had no gay men employed, while CP Amsterdam, Aarhus, Bern, Copenhagen reported less than 50%. The majority of CBCs (68%) and clinics (80%) had gay physicians employed or closely attached.
Recommendations
The list is still incomplete, especially NHS services (UK) and clinics offering gay-friendly HIV-testing are missing. However we believe we covered all comprehensive sexual health services for MSM in Europe that fall into the upper right quadrant of Figure 2. The added value of maintaining up-to-date listing of CBCs is their use in online mapping services and integration in geolocation-based dating-apps targeting MSM. Experience with the European HIV-Testing-Week has shown that reaching out to MSM through push notifications with a spectrum of HIV services and opening times of Checkpoints is both cost-effective and accepted by the community.
Health Policy and Management, 2014; 2:21–26. (ISSN1313-4981)
Authors: Emilia Naseva, Tonka Varleva, Petar Tsintsarski, Eva Papazova, Vyara Gancheva, Hristo Taskov
Abstract
The group of men who have sex with men (MSM), is the most affected by HIV, both in Western and Central European countries and in our country. Therefore, the European Commission has funded internet study of MSM community in 33 countries, covering the period from April 2009 to September 2011. The respondents from Bulgaria are 1036. The results of the study in our country showed that more than half of the involved subjects (52.3%) identified themselves as gay or homosexual, one in four (27.7%) considered themselves as bisexual, and 17.1% do not use any term to define their sexual behaviour. Those who claim to know their HIV status are only 68.5% of all respondents; the remaining 31.2% are not sure. It is a concern that a significant proportion (61.4%) of respondents who did not know their HIV status and are sure that they are HIV negative. The information from the survey could be used as a corrective to the already taken initiatives and as a supplement to the new prevention strategies when planning new activities for reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS in Bulgaria at national and regional level. [Article in Bulgarian]
In 2010 the Gay Men’s Sex Survey was part of the pan-European EMIS survey. The following reports present key data from men living in specific areas of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. They are supplementary to the main EMIS report which was published in March 2012.
GMSS: All Scotland (EMIS) 2010 summary report
(by Health Boards of residence)
GMSS: All Wales (EMIS) 2010 summary report
(by Health Boards of residence)
GMSS: All England (EMIS) 2010 summary report
(by 10 Strategic Health Authorities of residence)
Strategic Health Authority reports for England
GMSS: East of England (EMIS) 2010 summary report
GMSS: East Midlands (EMIS) 2010 summary report
GMSS: London (EMIS) 2010 summary report
GMSS: North East (EMIS) 2010 summary report
GMSS: North West (EMIS) 2010 summary report
GMSS: South Central (EMIS) 2010 summary report
GMSS: South East Coast (EMIS) 2010 summary report
GMSS: South West (EMIS) 2010 summary report